Whether it is an off-the-cuff comment or an intentional one, Telugu Desam Party general secretary Nara Lokesh raised the topic of ongoing power tussle between Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, while interacting with party functionaries in Guntur on Monday.
Referring to a resolution passed by the Guntur district unit requesting chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu to take Lokesh into the cabinet and entrusting him with the portfolio of Amaravati construction and urban development, the junior Naidu reminded that the cabinet reshuffle in Uttar Pradesh resulted in a rift between father and son.
“The Uttar Pradesh episode should be a lesson for us,” he said, indicating that his induction in the cabinet might result in a fight with his father Chandrababu Naidu.
Lokesh further said there was no need for him to become a minister in the Naidu cabinet, as he had been entrusted with the bigger responsibility of strengthening the party at all levels.
Apparently, he does not want to be one among the many in the cabinet, but is aiming at the hot seat of the chief minister, even if it requires a fight with his father.
